Ben and Jenelle DOT COM

The concert on Friday night was quite fun. The band gave their greatest performance yet. I brought my camera as you can see from this, this, and this. It was nice to just hang out with people our own age.

Speaking of people our own age, Jenelle and I went to Grace Church this morning after the service at Our Savior’s. We thoroughly enjoyed the service. I saw someone who attended Our Savior’s back when I was in middle school, and I saw one of my co-workers playing the saxophone in the worship band. Everything was fine except for one small issue.

In the pews is a “Welcome Guest!” card that explains a few different things about the church. There was a section to fill out to give to an usher/staff person, so we filled that part out. Also, Jenelle and I were particularly intrigued by the following paragraph:

Welcome Room

On your way out of the building today, please stop in the Welcome Room. It’s located to your right as you exit through the center sanctuary doors. There you will find regular Grace Church attendees and a staff member who can answer questions for you, give you a tour of the building and help you get connected!

I’m thinking: “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re looking for. We can get a tour of the place (which is huge) and ask about opportunities to meet more people our age. I wish Our Savior’s had room for something like that!” After the service ended, we had no trouble locating the Welcome Room. Through the window, we noticed several comfortable chairs. The room wasn’t as big as I imagined it. In fact, it resembled a waiting room that you might find at a doctor’s office, minus the reception window. Oh yeah, and there was one more problem.

The room was empty.

Besides the furniture, there wasn’t a soul inside the Welcome Room. We walked around for a moment, wondering if perhaps the welcomers hadn’t arrived yet or had taken a break for some reason. The room remained empty. Jenelle and I had some decision-making to do. We both decided that we shouldn’t have to ASK for somebody to welcome us. That didn’t seem right. It’s like when you want your spouse to buy you a gift for a special occasion but you don’t want to have to ASK him/her to buy you a gift. He/she should just know. We also wouldn’t have felt right sitting down in some of those chairs, like we were waiting to begin some sort of counseling session.

We took our comment card, added the phrase “Why was the Welcome Room empty after the service?”, gave it to someone at a desk in the center of the building, and headed home. Our phone number and e-mail address is on the comment card, so I’m hoping that someone gives us a call or an e-mail so that we can tell them about our unique experience. I’ll be happy to share our story.

So, to the folks at Grace Church — keep up the good work, and make sure you put someone in your Welcome Room. We’ll be back to check on your progress. 🙂

One more thing before I end this entry.

Happy Birthday, Ashby!

I spent Friday evening and most of Saturday at Camp Timber-Lee, near East Troy, WI. I was there as a chaperone at the first ever ELCA Racine Cluster Confirmation Retreat. I got to do more than just watch over some young folks. I played in the worship band, which consisted of musicians from several churches in the cluster. All of them had lots of experience, and it was a joy to play with each of them. I also learned some new songs that might show up at a Wednesday night service at Our Savior’s in the near future. 🙂

A note to all of you folks who are going to be chaperones at a camping event with kids under 15: It is important to prepare mentally as well as physically for this type of activity. Your patience and your resolve will be tested. There were no major disasters at this particular retreat, or even minor ones — but I found out yesterday that the three boys in my cabin snuck out after I fell asleep. I’m very thankful that God was watching over them. They were walking around the camp sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning, and they didn’t get into any serious trouble. I’ve never been a heavy sleeper, but perhaps I was a bit exhausted from making sure they behaved earlier in the night.

Not much else is going on at the moment. I’m still exercising at least three times a week, and I’ll be hitting the fitness center later this afternoon. My new position at SCJ is going well, and I’m keeping up with the workload I’ve been assigned. Perhaps it’s time to ask for a little more.

Yup, gasoline prices are on the rise.

Anyway, here’s the last installment in the Boston trip journal:

Boston Trip, Days Three and Four – February 21-22

Every trip has a day during which you do practically nothing. Saturday was that day for us. We hung out at Sarah’s apartment, watching movies, playing cards, ordering Chinese food, and basically relaxing after a lot of walking on Friday. We watched the first Harry Potter movie and What About Bob? I taught Sarah and Jenelle how to play a card game called golf. No, not the one that comes with Windows machines. This is a game in the style of gin with only four cards to a person, and two of them are hidden until the player decides to exchange them. The last time I played that game, I was in Minocqua. Fun times.

We didn’t have time to do much on Sunday. We packed up and headed out to the airport. It was a great trip. Thanks to Sarah for showing us around and providing some quality hospitality for us.

My apologies for not promptly continuing the journal of the Boston trip. I’ll try and get back to that later this weekend.

It is currently hour #7 of the annual 30-hour famine, sponsored by WorldVision. Youth and chaperones (that’s Jenelle and me) will be gathering at church later tonight. I’ll be taking pictures, and of course I’ll share them with everyone after the event is over.

Since I’ll probably be busy tomorrow, I’ll say this one day early:

Happy Birthday, Dyan!

Check out photos from Boston here. I’ll share some details from the trip in the near future.